Cusco, Peru

We arrived in Cusco pretty early in the morning but luckily we were able to check in to the hostel and went to bed for a couple of hours. We stayed at Loki Hostel which was in a really cool old building. It was a party hostel with something happening at the bar every night. This wasn’t our smartest move because we wanted to get some good rest before the trek to Machu Picchu but we were woken up by people in our room every night. The Inca Trail at this time of year books out months in advance so we decided to do the Salkantay Trek because you can still walk to Machu Picchu. The first day in Cusco we wandered around a few different travel agencies to book the Salkantay Trek to leave in 3 days. We decided to stay 3 nights in Cusco before the trek because it is at quite a high altitude and it is recommended to spend some time acclimatising. Our hostel was on quite a big hill and you definitely ran out of breath very quickly. All the prices for the treks quoted over the Internet are much higher so it is better to book through the local agencies when you arrive in Cusco. I was so glad we had finally booked it but we were getting nervous reading about it – described as the hardest trek to Machu Picchu at one point reaching 4600m.

Cusco was a really cool city and we wandered around the markets which were full of Alpaca clothes and juice stalls. We were on the search for cheap Alpaca jumpers but decided to wait until Bolivia where everyone said they were cheaper. We continued with our set menus for every meal because it is a much cheaper way to eat and we had some awesome soups!

Instead of paying to do a tour of the Sacred Valley we decided to do it ourselves and save money – much more successfully this time compared to our attempt in Mexico. The Sacred Valley includes all the big Inca ruins sites. We got a collectivo to Ollantaytambo and then another collectivo and then a bus to Pisac. Ollantaytambo had lots of stairs to get to the top of the ruins but it was a really nice view. We had read that you could walk to the top of the ruins in Pisac but it was quite a big walk up some steep stairs and we thought we might run out of time. Because we were so indecisive the taxis kept lowering their prices and so we finally decided to get a taxi to the top. The ruins were huge and had awesome views of the city. We were so glad we taxied up because it took us about 40 mins to walk down and it was quite steep. At altitude it would have been very hard work! Once we got to Pisac we had a quick look at the markets and bought some Alpaca socks and gloves. The Alpaca clothes are so soft and I definitely needed some warmer clothes for the trek. I now had an Alpaca beanie, socks and gloves!

We had one more day before the trek so we spent the day getting ready and relaxing. There are lots of shops in Cusco with trekking gear so we bought some Columbia and North Face jackets for about $30 – knock off ones of course – and bought snacks and other necessities. We had a really early night because we had to be ready at 4:30am to be picked up from our hostel.

 Cusco

 View from Ollantaytambo ruins

Top of Pisac ruins

Pisac ruins